We had a few bits
of genomic-related diagnostics news that came in just before this winter set in, from some big players like HTG Molecular Diagnostics, QIAGEN and Illumina,
as well as news from less-prominent DNA Electronics. So, before we get much farther out of 2016, we thought we’d give them some quick attention.

HTG and QIAGEN team up on precision diagnostics

TUCSON, Ariz.,
& VENLO, Netherlands—HTG Molecular Diagnostics Inc. and QIAGEN Manchester Ltd., a
wholly owned subsidiary of QIAGEN N.V., announced in late 2016 a master assay development,
commercialization and manufacturing agreement that creates a framework for both companies to combine their technological and commercial strengths with the
goal to offer pharmaceutical companies a complete next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based solution for the development and commercialization of companion
diagnostics, with a focus in oncology.

“We are very impressed with QIAGEN’s ‘sample to
insight’ philosophy and quickly envisioned development and commercial synergies through our combined efforts with pharma,” said T.J. Johnson,
HTG’s president and CEO. “Our objective is to develop a complete NGS solution from biomarker discovery to commercialized companion diagnostics,
and we believe this agreement accelerates both companies’ efforts.”

“HTG’s extraction-free
technology can add attractive capabilities to QIAGEN’s NGS-based ‘sample to insight’ solutions for applications in pathology where sample
often is limited,” said Kai te Kaat, vice president and head of franchise oncology in the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area at QIAGEN. “The
addition of HTG’s technology to our Sample to Insight GeneReader NGS system, and augmented by QIAGEN’s capabilities across NGS workflows, will
enable our pharma partners to successfully profile patients including settings where only low sample amounts are available. This capability is of interest in
many indication areas but primarily in oncology and immune-oncology applications.”

Illumina and Mayo Clinic form bioinformatics relationship

SAN DIEGO & ROCHESTER,
Minn.—Illumina Inc. recently entered into an agreement with the Mayo Clinic to make advancements in NGS technology with the intent to accelerate Mayo’s delivery
of genetic and genomic expertise.

“Through
this relationship, we will be able to generate large volumes of genomic information, interrogate the data and then compare it to what’s known about
those variants and those genetic aberrations in real time, saving our geneticists time,” said Dr. William Morice II, chair of Mayo’s Department
of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and president of Mayo Medical Laboratories. “We are pleased to work with Illumina and to leverage each
other’s expertise in genetic sequencing and analysis.”

In the project, dubbed Pathogen Identification from Specimen via Capture Extraction and Sequencing, DNAe will complete development and
validation of its Genalysis platform and submit its tests for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Unlike existing sequencing devices, the platform operates ‘push button’ directly from raw clinical specimens such as blood or
swabs, delivering a clinically relevant report for the physician,” said Sam Reed, president of DNAe’s U.S. office.